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AIXpert Blog

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AIXpert Blog is about the AIX operating system from IBM running on POWER based machines called Power Systems and software related to it like PowerVM for virtualisation, PowerVC for Deploying VM's and PowerSC for security plus performance monitoring and nmon

The following paper by Ralf Schmidt-Dannert discusses the performance impact of AIX micropartition options on a 2 tier Java/C++/Oracle application. His benchmarks show micropartitioningcan have a positive impact on application performance. His conclusionsinclude: 1. The micropartition CPU sharing improved performance over static LPARs2. SMT improved performance (default AIX setting)3. Don't over configure Virtual Processors (My recommendation is to configure at most one Virtual Processor per CPU in the free pool)... [More]

HMC V6.1 has been re-released. This code contains the long-awaited function allowing the HMC to use a proxy server when contacting IBM Service over the Internet. Recovery media and ISO image files are again available through the HMC Corrective Service web site: https://www14.software.ibm.com/webapp/set2/sas/f/hmc/home.html Important steps must be taken before and after the upgrade. Before upgrading, administrators need to determine if they have an HMC affected by an internal modem problem that would cause the HMC to hang. This problem exists on... [More]

JFS2 buffers often needs to be tuned for I/O intensive applications. The performance gains can be large. Last month I was involved in a stress benchmark where JFS2 tuning improved batch performance by a factor of three. To determine if your AIX system needs JFS2 tuning, run the "vmstat -v" command several times over a period of 10-30 minutes during peak processing. If the number of "I/O's blocked with no fsbuf" increases with time, you need to increase JFS2 buffers. Increasing JFS2 buffers is straightforward. Simply increase the... [More]

In 2007 the Daylight Saving Time start/end dates will change in the United States. The new start date is the second Sunday of March; the new end date is the first Sunday of November. For more information, see "Managing the Time Zone Variable" at http://www-1.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=isg3T1000252 You'll need one of the the following APARs: AIX 5.3 = IY75211 AIX 5.2 = IY75213 AIX 5.1 = IY75214 AIX 4.3 see workaround in the "Managing the Time Zone Variable" Some of the more current AIX releases already have this patch. You can use the... [More]

I've updated my nmon2web tool. Its a performance tracking tool for an entire AIX server farm. It can display daily or long term charts. It also aggregates the performance micropartitions residing on the same physical server. You can download it from http://www.aixtips.com/AIXtip/nmon2rrdv3.htm

VIO is a specialized Power5/Power5+ partition that allows clients to sharedisks and network adapters. This IBM Redpaper provides best practices for planning, installing, maintaining, and operating the VIO partition. http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/abstracts/redp4194.html?Open This Redpaper begins where the Advanced POWER Virtualization Redbookleaves off by adding best practices based on real life experiences. http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/abstracts/sg247940.html?Open

LPARmon Version 2 is now available from IBM Alphaworks. This free tool provides a graphical interface for viewing partition performance. The tool was developed by Austin's Briefing Center to demonstrate Advanced Virtual Partitioning, in particular to demonstrate free pool utilization in a micropartitioned server. I highly recommend it. http://www.alphaworks.ibm.com/tech/lparmon?open&S_TACT=106AH62W&S_CMP=NEWS

A basic IT "best practice" is to do regular system backups**. The system backup should be validated by periodically storing to a test machine by someone other than the creator of the backup. I've posted a script to my website that automates system backups of AIX servers to a NIM server over the network. The script runs on the NIM server, either manually or as a cron job. The documentation is inside the script. I highly recommend using NIM (network installation manager) for the following reasons: 1)Convenience: ability to do remote... [More]

RSS is a web feed technology that allows you to monitor web sites that change frequently (blogs, technical forums, updates, news, etc). IBM has over 300 IBM RSS feeds which are listed on the following website. http://www.ibm.com/ibm/syndication/

Here's a new Redbook that provides a system administrator view of the technical differences and methods necessary to complete a successful migration from Solaris to AIX 5L based systems. It also appears to be a good general AIX admin reference. Solaris to AIX Migration: A Guide for System Administrators http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/abstracts/sg247245.html Other Redbooks in this category include AIX Reference for Solaris Administrators http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/abstracts/sg246584.html?Open AIX 5L Reference for HP-UX System Administrators... [More]